Entries in Jon Stewart
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Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS(NEW YORK) -- Looks like Jon Stewart will have the summer off from The Daily Show. The Comedy Central host will make his directorial debut instead.

Website Deadline New York reported that Stewart will take about 12 weeks off this summer to direct his first feature, Rosewater, about Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari’s harrowing ordeal of spending 118 days in Iran’s most notorious prison. Bahari was brutally interrogated by a man he knew by one thing only -- he smelled of rose water.

According to Deadline, Stewart wrote the script, which is based on the 2011 best-selling book Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival, in which Bahari details leaving his pregnant fiance behind in June 2009 to cover Iran’s presidential elections for Newsweek, only to be accused of spying and held captive for several months.

Though Stewart has appeared in numerous films and hosted the Oscars in 2008, Rosewater will be the first feature he has written and directed.

A comedian who regularly takes on political issues on his show, Stewart also had a personal stake in Bahari’s story. An appearance the journalist made on The Daily Show was used against him as proof that he was a spy.

While Stewart is away, Daily Show regular John Oliver will be filling in as a guest host for eight weeks.

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Jon Stewart loves sparring with his Daily Show guests, but there’s one guy he never wants to see on his set again: Hugh Grant.

Last week, at a Montclair, N.J., fundraiser he hosted with his Comedy Central cohort Steven Colbert, Stewart said the British actor acted like a world class diva during a 2009 Daily Show appearance, bossing around people backstage.

“He’s giving everyone s**t the whole time, and he’s a big pain in the ass,” Stewart said. ”And we’ve had dictators on the show.”

Grant stopped by to promote the movie Did You Hear About the Morgans? but was upset with the film clip Stewart aired on the show.

According to Stewart, Grant said, “What is that clip? It’s a terrible clip.” Stewart shot back, ”Well, then make a better f*****g movie.”

A rep for Grant didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Stephen Colbert will resume taping new episodes of his political satire show Monday. The comedian mysteriously suspended production last Wednesday.

Comedy Central and Colbert have not commented on the reason for the hiatus, but Colbert tweeted on Friday: “My family and I would like to thank everyone who has offered their thoughts and prayers. We are grateful and touched by your concern.”

On Wednesday morning, the show promoted what would have been on that night’s program.

“Watch Stephen help shape the message of Colbert Super PAC with the help of political strategist Frank Luntz,” read the last tweet from the Colbert Report Twitter account, suggesting the cancellation was sudden.

This marked the first time The Colbert Report had ever suspended production, according to comedy news blog the Beat.

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, from which the Colbert was spun off, has canceled production only twice, once after the death of a staff member, and once when host Jon Stewart became a father.

Other guests slated to appear on the show this week include Nancy Pelosi, Placido Domingo and author Robert Kagan.

Brad Barket/Getty Images(KANDAHAR, Afghanistan) -- U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan are being treated to a visit from comedian Jon Stewart.

Admiral Mike Mullen was questioned by troops about the looming debt crisis, still unresolved, and whether they would be paid in the event of a default. On the lighter side, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart was accompanying the Admiral.

Stewart and Mullen are expected to fly to Bagram later Saturday. This is Admiral Mullen's final scheduled trip to Afghanistan.

“I say this with all due respect Newt, and I hate to break this to you but this whole Twitter, YouTube thing is not going to work for you because you’re not cool. You’re uncool,” Stewart said on Thursday night’s The Daily Show. “Let me put this in lingo that you might understand. You’re what might be known to your generation as a square.”

Stewart mocked Gingrich’s campaign rollout on Twitter.

“Gingrich announcing on Twitter and YouTube instead of on television or in a newspaper, it’s as though Newt has abandoned old media while it was sick or possibly dying to take up a newer, younger…media.”

But the ridicule didn’t end there. Stewart went after his official announcement video as well.

“Who thought it was a good idea to do your state of the art campaign computer launch in a Sears photo studio booth with a Casio accompaniment?” Stewart said. “That’s not music to launch a hip presidential campaign.”

Photo Courtesy - Kevin Mazur/ WireImage(NEW YORK) -- Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Stewart cracked jokes, while Tony Bennett sang and Bruce Springsteen rocked at a fundraising event in New York City Wednesday for wounded members of the U.S. military and their families.

The fourth annual Stand Up for Heroes show, presented by the Bob Woodruff Foundation and the New York Comedy Festival, was held at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre and hosted by Stewart. The event was also streamed live online to several military bases. Bob Woodruff is an ABC News Correspondent who spent five weeks in a coma after suffering a head injury while reporting from Iraq.

Stewart referenced Tuesday’s election results in his opening remarks, saying when he heard the benefit would be raising money for the wounded, he thought to himself, “Oh, a Democratic Party fundraiser.” Stewart also joked the Republicans were an endangered species two years ago, but the election results showed how good Democrats are at conservation.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, after Springsteen performed, he turned over one of his guitars to be auctioned off. An unidentified woman purchased it for $140,000.

The fundraiser also included video messages from President Barack Obama and Jimmy Kimmel, who joked that Precious star Gabourey Sidibe would give him a “wet willie” for every $100,000 donated. At the end of the video, Sidibe appeared on screen and gave Kimmel two wet ones. Jerry Seinfeld closed the show, after Stewart introduced him by saying he's a big fan and has been watching Seinfeld reruns for years.

All proceeds from the event go to the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which supports wounded service members, veterans and their families.﻿

Photo Courtesy - ABC News(NEW YORK) -- Rick Sanchez blames fatigue for last week’s rant in which he called Comedy Central host Jon Stewart a “bigot” and implied that his CNN bosses were part of a Jewish clique that controls the media.

“I was tired. I had been working 14-hour days for like two-and-a-half months,” Sanchez told ABC News on Friday, a week after he was fired for his remarks. “I was doing three shows. I was exhausted.”

“I was feeling a little bit put out. And I was feeling a little sensitive. And I was looking at the landscape and I was looking and I was seeing [little diversity] and I externalized the problem and I put it on Jon Stewart’s shoulders and I was wrong to do that,” Sanchez said of his comments.

The former anchor says he called Stewart on Monday to apologize.

“I learned later that he is the classiest guy in the world when I called him, and I’m the one who needs to be in trouble,” Sanchez added.